There are so many wonderful things about the State of Florida and many of them are just plain free! On this site, I'll be exploring the free side of Florida as well as low cost options for your weekends or vacation. But because I don't want to steer you wrong, I'll post after I visit these places myself. Have a great time on the site and on your own adventures!

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Let me tell you right off the bat, that I am generally not a chocolate person. So when I say this place has amazingly delicious chocolate and that I had to consciously decide to stop eating it, you know I'm telling you the truth.

Now, normally, I would not visit a retail store for this website, but this particular chocolate shop just happens to be a chocolate factorywith a free factory tour. Upon entry, the sweet, nutty scent envelopes the visitor properly as a chocolate factory should. Surrounding you are the assorted displays of shapes and colors of chocolate and fudge. But in the back, left side of the store is a long hallway heading straight to the back of the building and welcoming guests to take the factory tour at the times specified on the sign above. A walk down this hallways shows, through large glass windows, the factory itself with the Oompa-Loompa's... er... excuse me, the chocolate makers doing their thing. A glance at the walls shows the press the factory has received as well as the process of growing cocoa beans and how they are processed into cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

Yes, the football is actually
solid chocolate.

By the way, I learned on the tour that white chocolate has no cocoa powder but does contain cocoa butter. Therefore, my favorite type of chocolate really is chocolate! I've been ribbed about that more than a few times.

Anyway, the tour is succinct and interesting and concludes with a brief foray into the factory itself, where guests are allowed to sample a piece fresh off the production line. The pieces vary according to what is being created at the time, but our samples were of raspberry cream truffles - plucked right off the assembly line. All in all, I tried the raspberry cream truffle, a milk chocolate truffle, a chocolate covered potato chip, a white pecan turtle, and a chocolate cashew turtle.

Making the raspberry
cream truffles.

I am not afraid to say that I was a little sugared up and honestly loved everything I ate. I have never experienced chocolate that was this smooth and buttery and will be making a return trip for a few Christmas stocking stuffer's.